Lost and Found
by LoneStarsHeart
Summary: Six years have passed since Sakura Disappeared. Then three kids show up saying that they belong to her. Can the rookie 9 and Gais team protect these kids, and find Sakura, before its to late?
1. Chapter 1

Standing on the famous Hokage Mountain was a man with flowing blond hair tied up in a pony tail; staring at the sunset. Wind gently blowing through the great Hidden Leaf Village below him stirred the cherry blossom tree next to him, releasing petals that glided on the gust of air for a bit, circling around the man. His eyes grew gentle as he watched them, reaching out to try to grasp a petal, which evaded its cage and flew out over Konoha.

"Naruto?" Two men walking up the side of the mountain close to where he was called out to him. One with spiky hair, the other with flat hair, who had spoken.

Naruto turned to them as they approached, flashing a sad grin. "Hey Sauske, Sai; what's up?"

"Idiot. The ceremonies about to begin. What are you still doing up here? I thought you had gone home to change?" Sasuke snapped at Naruto, a bit concerned for his friend.

Naruto, unaffected by Sasukes normal coldness, went on, "Just thinking." Turning his eyes back to the magnificent view of the village before him. "I miss her." He admitted awkwardly, with a mourning smile on his face. "I always imagined, that when this day came, she would be her to share it with us."

Sai and Sasuke shared a knowing glance, but it was Sai who spoke up. "Naruto. Its been five years. I thought that you had gotten over it." He walked over to put a comforting hand on Narutos shoulder.

Suddenly, anger flared in Narutos eyes and he lashed out at Sais hand. Sai wisely stepped back in time; cautious in case of another swipe at him.

"How can I forget!? How can I forget about her?! HOW CAN I ACT LIKE SHE NEVER EXISTED?!" He yelled at them both, voice raising with each word.

Sauske stepped forward, narrowing his eyes in anger of his own at Naruto. "Do you really think that we are all that uncaring that we would forget about her! As if we COULD!"

Taking a deep breath, he spoke in a lower voice, looking out over the village. "I'm sure that all of us would forget about her if we could, just to make the pain go away."

Clenching a hand in his hair, Naruto looked down in shame for taking his frustration out on his friends.

After a few moments of silence, Sai broke it. "Naruto, Sauske, her unit disappeared five years ago, only one man came back. He told us all about how there was a traitor, and that he was the only one who survived. He was questioned countless times Naruto, and she would definitely have returned by now. Give up Naruto, she's gone. She's not coming back… no matter how much we all want her to." His voice faded out, as he clenched his pant leg, trying to control the emotions that she had once awakened in him.

At first, he had found joy in his new emotions, sharing them with her and everyone else. But now they had become a burden. Just as everyone else's had.

Silence reigned over the solemn trio once again until it was broken by the striking of a bell.

Not one of them moved to acknowledge that they had heard it.

"I guess we should probably go. Don't wanna miss you own coronation into being a Hokage, do you Naruto?" He joked softly.

Naruto looked up, searching Sasukes eyes with his own, then Sais. Finally, he took a deep breath as if to steal himself for what was to come; letting out a heartbreaking smile. "Ok. Lets get going."

With that, the three disappeared with a flourish, leaving the cherry blossoms to settle in their places.

999

In the center of Kohana, a large crowd had gathered, overwhelming the plaza. It was filled with people craning their necks to get a better view of the man advancing on the platform. Small children were placed upon their fathers backs for a better view, much to the dismay of those behind him; who grumbled about not being able to see. There were also many ninja up on tall buildings, just in ear shot, on trees, even hanging upside down or sideways somewhere.

As Naruto walked up the platform, taking in this site, he didn't feel the least bit nervous. Instead, he was excited and nearly jumping out of his skin; itching to run across the platform to the head council member waiting for him in the middle.

With each step, his excitement grew.

Then, he was standing in front of the council member, who he had just recognized as Head Council Member Higurashi.

He was an old man, probably in his mid-eighties, with a neatly trimmed gray beard and laugh lines covering his face; instead of the frown lines that most council members seem to acquire over their time in office.

Smiling at him, Higurashi spoke in a voice that was actually very low, but because of a jutsu placed on him, it made him seem like he was talking through a microphone. Sure, it was probably convenient for those to far away to hear normally, but frankly it gave him a headache.

"Naruto Uzumaki, please kneel."

Naruto gently lowered down to one knee, his newly fitted Hokage robes brushing around him.

"Naruto Uzumaki" the council member continued "Do you swear that you shall, within all of your ability, protect and guide the Village of the Hidden Leaf, until either your dieing day or when you step down to hand off the position of Hokage to your successor?"

Naruto answered without hesitation "I do." It feels more like I'm getting married, he thought in the back of his mind.

"Do you swear to always deliver judgment justly and in the better will of this Village?"

"I do."

"Do you swear to never commit treason to this village?"

"I do."

Naruto, whose gaze was focused on the wood floor of the platform, felt something be placed on his head, pieces of white cloth falling on either side of his face.

"Now rise, Naruto Uzumaki."

Taking one last deep breath, Naruto rose to look at the massive crowd, still deathly silent in front of him.

Putting a hand out towards the villagers, Higurashi addressed them "People of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I present to you your Hokage! Hokage Uzumaki!"

Even before the council member had finished his words, there was a deafening roar from everyone gathered. Some of the more enthusiastic ninjas even sent kunai bomb tags high up in the sky to explode.

Naruto proudly raised two thumbs up high above his head, and let out his trademark grin.

Another deafening roar.

Council Member Higurashi gave him a wide smile, shaking his hand and indicating that he was aloud to exit the platform. "Congratulations Naruto."

"Thanks Higurashi!" Naruto exclaimed, turning to walk off the stage, "Thanks so much for everything!"

Council Member Higurashi just smiled and shoke his head, exiting the other way off of the platform. No matter how grown up he seems he's still just a little kid inside.

Laughing, he had another thought which he would be sure to share with the other Council members. When he gets his face carved in the Hokage Mountain, he'll probably go and paint his own face just for kicks.

Naruto was escorted to the dining table for the after feast, to which the whole entire village was invited. While he greatly disliked these formal things, he knew that he had to go though with it, or a bunch of old geezers would be after him later.

So he did the right things; made a speech, greeted ambassadors, talked to supposedly important people about a wide variety of things ranging in everything from political to personal.

Eventually, he was released out into the party to have a breather away from all of the Hokage stuff. He got a bunch of 'Congratulations' from people, and then was tackled to the ground.

"Naruto!" Kiba yelled strait into his ear, "You did it! You finally became Hokage!" Naruto gently pushed him and the drooling Akamaru off of him, both of the boys grinning from ear to ear.

Only to be tackled again.

"You did it! Now we can all go out to the steakhouse and get free meals because you're the Hokage! Can we go now? I'm starving!" Of course Choji was thinking of food.

"Come on! Stop tackling me!" Pushing yet another person off him, Naruto got up and brushed off his annoyingly white Hokage robes.

"So troublesome." Shikimaru sighed, holding back a yawn. "Can we go somewhere a little quieter? I can't even hear myself think, and definitely can't hear you talking."

Naruto, glad to get away from the head pounding noise from the party, followed the rookie nine and Gai's team out.

999

After arriving at team sevens old training grounds, Naruto was congratulated by all of his friends, and of course, tackled a few more times.

After that was over, everyone sunk back into the comfortable feeling that they all had around each other. The feeling of have experienced so many things with each individual person, tying you together.

Naruto flopped down onto the grass next to Shikimaru, Sasuke, and Sai and took a look around at his friends.

Everyone had grown so much, matured into the adults that they were today. Most of them were at least 22 years old, but Gai's team were mostly 23 years old.

Ten Ten was over by Choji, trying to get him to put down the chips for once, which was obviously not happening.

Shino and Neji were playing a game of Chess, staring intently at the board as if trying to see before hand what the others move would be. Lee was sitting in between them at a side of the board, tense as if ready for an attack. Every time one of them would go for a piece, Lee would stop breathing and watch it with an almost frightening intensity, then let it out when the piece was placed.

Ino and Hinata were with Kiba, trying to ride Akamaru. Kiba was telling Hinata, who was the one currently on Akamaru and terrified, that she had to loosen her grip because she was choking Akamaru. Ino was rolling around on the ground in tears from laughing so hard.

Looking back over at the ones he was sitting with, Sasuke was staring off into space, Sai was drawing on his recently acquired ink pad, and Shikimaru was dozing off.

Looking up, Naruto looked up at the moon.

"So," startled by the unexpected speech from the Uchiha, Naruto turned his attention to him. "How does it feel to be the Hokage at last? Your life dream finally fulfilled?"

Falling down onto his back with a smile and a sigh, he replied "Truthfully, it feels really great! I always dreamed of this day…and now that its finally come, I know exactly what I'm going to do for the rest of my life!"

Ino, who had come over and sat down next to Shikimaru and was currently poking him with a stick spoke up. "And what exactly is your new life goal? Oh powerful lea--" Cutting off when Shikimaru, who had finally gotten tired of being poked; tackled her and sent them both rolling down a hill, that had been caused by one Team Sevens countless training sessions, laughing.

"I'm gonna watch over the Village Hidden in Leaves for the rest of my life!" He exclaimed jumping up, once again broadcasting his trademark grin, while everyone else in the clearing cheered.

999

It had been almost one month since Narutos assent to the position of Hokage; and now Naruto could clearly see why Tsunade always drank so much sake. With the amount of paperwork, problems, and complaining ninjas that spilled into his office every day, most of the time Naruto just wanted to slam his head against a wall for a couple of hours.

Signing yet another treaty that he hadn't really read, something about fishes or something like that, putting it aside to grab another from the never ending pile.

He looked up from his paper when he heard the door open, hoping it was something who could possibly give him an excuse to leave the office, but was disappointed that it was merely a genin handing in what looked to be a mission report.

Nonetheless Naruto smiled at him, holding out his hand requesting the report; signed it quickly, then dismissed the genin, who quickly ran out of the room with a thank you.

Listening until he could no longer hear the sound of the young boys footsteps, Naruto looked back down to his paperwork; getting an idea.

"Well," Naruto started, rising from his chair with a grin "I can't keep this Village in peace if I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing can I?" Quickly scribbling down a note to his secretary, who happened to be Council Member Higurashis son, Naruto opened the large window behind him.

Just as he was about to jump, he heard the door open once again behind him. "Hokage?" his before mentioned secretary ask knowingly. "You're not seriously skipping out again are you!"

Grinning out to the city, raising his arms out horizontally on either side of him like a bird feeling the wind on his face, answered him "Even Hokages need a break sometimes right?"

With that he leaned forward just the smallest bit, suspended in the air for a heartbeat, then plummeted down towards the ground.

Landing gently on the ground, Naruto took off over the rooftops heading to a place that he had visited more then could possibly be healthy, according to most of his friends.

999

"Another bowl!"

"Coming right up Hokage!" the owner of the Ramen shop Naruto was sitting at called back to him.

Stacking yet another bowl on top of the multiple bowls that had already accumulated in front of him, Naruto leaned back and rubbed his stomach, looking around at the familiar place.

The man who owned this place with his daughter had always been so kind to him, even though he had known that he was the Kyuubi, so Naruto had long ago developed a habit of coming to the place where he was accepted.

"Hey Naruto, what's up?" Shikimaru greeted him, plopping down in the seat next to him, slipping in an order to the waitress. "So what are you doing here? I thought that you would be busy getting all nervous about tonight?" Laughing he accepted the bowl given to him, as Naruto hungrily devoured the bowl placed in front of him.

Between gobbling down his ramen Naruto somehow managed to talk. "Not at all! I'm totally siked about tonight!"

"Good. We wouldn't want you to be the one slipping up tonight in front of everyone." Shikimaru commented half jokingly, elbowing Naruto in the ribs.

"Hah! So where's the lucky girl?" Naruto questioned, pushing the now finished bowl aside.

Shikimaru, rolling his eyes answered, "With the girls, getting ready."

"But the ceremonies not for two hours!" Naruto, looking at his watch said disbelievingly.

"Well you know girls, they're all crazy." Shikimaru shrugged.

"So I'll see you then?" Standing up Naruto got ready to go, looking down at the not yet finished eating Shikimaru.

"Yup. Guess so." Shikimaru said, turning back to his food.

"Ok…. Well then, see ya!" Shouting over his shoulder as he ran away from the store.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Looking up agitated at being interrupted again. "What?"

Looking sheepish, the shop owner held out his hand, "Naruto said you were paying?"

"Wha?" Confused, Shikimaru looked over… at the massive pile of bowls next to him…..

Naruto was once again running along the roof tops, listening for what he was waiting for. "NARUTO!!"

"Better get out of here now before Shikimaru gets enough sense to come after me," he chuckled to himself, speeding up.

999

"Do you Shikimaru Nara accept Ino Yamanaka as your bride, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do you part?" Naruto, dressed in his stifling Hokage attire, asked Shikimaru.

Shikimaru, staring into Inos eyes across from him answered without hesitation. "I do."

"Do you Ino Yamanaka accept Shikimaru Nara as your groom, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do you part?" Naruto turned to Ino to ask this time.

Dressed in a long white dress, and doing the same as Shikimaru across from her, she also answered without hesitation. "I do."

"Giving them both a warm smile Naruto continued. "Then I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. You may kiss the bride."

Shikimaru then leaned forward and gave Ino a sweet, gentle kiss, while all in the audience rose clapping, screaming, and some even crying.

Seeing that the kiss had not yet ended, and it had probably been over a minute by now, Naruto decided a little humor was in order. "OK, ok you two, save it for the honeymoon!"

This got a laugh from almost all present, including the newly wedded couple, who finally broke apart.

As the best man, Choji, made his speech, the cake was cut, people danced, and everyone had a wonderful time at the after party. People laughed, got drunk, and all just celebrated happily at the joining of the close couple. But throughout the whole thing, everyone continued to notice the one empty spot next to the bride where the maid of honor was to sit.

Back in the early stages of planning the wedding, Ino, Shikimaru, and the entire bridal party had agreed that that seat was to remain empty, because the one who was meant to fill it, had been dead for five years now.

999

Walking home along the shadowy road after the wedding party, Naruto was absolutely exhausted. Being a little drunk, he hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking, and when he looked up, he saw where his feet had taken him.

The Memorial Stone clearing.

Silently, Naruto advanced slowly across the clearing towards the memorial stone.

Stopping in front of it, his eyes traveled through the to long list of names, reading them, thinking of who these people might be, who they were. Who missed them, and cried when their name was added to the Memorial Stone.

The wind blew, stirring the trees around him, along with the cherry blossom tree a few yards away from where he was standing.

Reaching out, he watched as one solitary petal landed in his palm. Bringing it closer to him, he examined it. But when he was going to touch it, the wind unleashed another gust and sent it swirling back through the air to join its counterparts.

Looking back towards the stone, Narutos eyes continued to glide down the names, trying to find one specific one. The one that had broken his and all of his friends hearts when it was carved upon the stone.

When he found it, he reached out and gently traced the name with his fingers.

With a small, sad smile of one who lost one of the most important things in his life, he whispered into the silent night, "In the end, you really were like a cherry blossom, even though you tried so hard to prove to everyone that you wouldn't honor your namesake."

"Blooming in the summer, so bright, it draws everyone to you, capturing all of their hearts, no matter who they were." He continued, voice growing husky from pent up emotions.

"But just like a cherry blossom, you bless those around you with your beauty for only a short time. Then you are taken from the world, from our lives, all to soon." He ended, clenching his hand against the cold stone.

"Why?" Naruto whispered brokenly, falling to his knees before the large stone.

Naruto did not move, even when he felt rain droplets on his head. Not until his tears had run out, did Naruto stand up, take one last look at her name, and slowly trudge back home in the pouring rain.

_Sakura Haruno _


	2. Chapter 2

_Dear Readers, _

_I apologize for my prolonged absence. My family life is complicated, so there may be instances where I may not update for an unknown amount of time. I will work hard to update more though, and I hope that you will continue reading. I will also try to warn you before something like this happens again. _

_From, LoneStarsHeart_

_ One Year Later_

_Two ninjas stood on a rooftop, seemingly to stare at nothing at first glance by onlookers. Upon closer inspection of the scene though, looking past the duo, they could see that they were staring at the Hokage Mountain. There was nothing unusual about the monument itself, but instead what was on it. On all of the Hokage faces, which was now up to a total of six after they had added the current Hokage, was paint in colorful patters covering all of the faces._

_Even with onlookers shaking their heads at the sight of the mountain before going about their businesses, the twosome still stood ramrod strait, not moving. _

_Apparently, they finally found what they were looking for in a mostly orange and white blob jumping down from the mountain, then jumping across the rooftops away from them at an amazing speed. As soon as they spotted it, they both took off across the city pursing the moving object. _

_As they got closer, the blob was identified as a person. He looked back at his pursuers, flashed his trademark grin and jumped across a stream that ran into the public baths. He stood on a electricity wire pole, almost taunting them to come after him. The two made to jump over the canal towards him, but about halfway across, they slammed into an invisible wall. With their momentum shot, they plummeted into the hot water with matching shouts. _

"_NARUTO!"_

_With another grin, Hokage Naruto Uzimaki turned and jumped away across the rooftops towards his favorite place in The Village Hidden in the Leaves._

_**99999999999999999**_

"HI TEME!"

CRASH!

"Dobe." Sasuke mumbled around the ramen that he was currently chewing.

The crash was compliment of Ino, who busy yelling at a Naruto shaped hole in the ground. "Why are you always so loud?!"

Deflated, Naruto hefted his torso up over the top of the deep hole, frowning up at Ino. "Oh come on Ino. I was excited!" Sure he was whining, but he had just been forcefully buried three feet deep in the ground! He had a right to whine!

Ino, eye twitching, kicked him back into the hole.

Sighing, Kiba walked over to the deep trench in Ichigaku's lobby where eleven of the villages strongest ninjas ever had been waiting for the reason for their celebration.

After they joined the others at their large table in the restaurant and ordered, everyone started talking at once.

After a friendly arm-wrestle with Lee, which he lost much to Chojis amusement, Naruto zoned out from the conversations, opting instead for leaning back against his chair and looking around his ramen flavored heaven.

Probably around two years ago, Ichigaku had gotten a lot more popular, and in order to accommodate all the customers pouring in, they were forced to expand. The initial front of the store with the original bar like setup was still there, but they had expanded sideways and backward. Now there was two hallways leading back on either side of the front, which was now the lobby, past the kitchen in the middle of them, back to the dining rooms. The owner had hired an entire staff as well, since he and his daughter could no longer handle all of the business alone.

It may have changed in size, but same familiar faces were there, and it still felt like a second home to Naruto.

Turning back to his friends and jumping back into the conversation, they continued to talk, yell, and banter uselessly like all old friends do, until their food came.

As the meal was finished up, after quite a lot of prompting (aka: death threats) from Ino, Shikimaru stood up with his glass. "Can I have everyone's attention please?"

Considering that Shikimaru was a very well known and accomplished ANBU, even by the citizens, he gained all inhabitants attention quickly, and it soon became silent, gazes fixed on the pineapple haired man. Even the waiters and waitresses had stopped moving to listen.

Giving a small smile, Shikimaru started speaking. "It has been a year since Naruto Uzimaki took the seat of Hokage in this village, and he's done a fine job of it, huh? Much to our disbelief." At this there were a few woots. The later part, which was spoken slightly quieter, produced a few chuckles.

"So in honor of the mark, please everyone give him a big round of applause!" Even before he had finished speaking, there was a thunderous amount of cheering, from inside the restaurant, and from those who had stopped by the windows, curious at what was taking place.

Eventually it died down and everyone went back to their own dinners. "I will never do that again, just so you know, it's to troublesome. Get Neji to do it next year."

Neji, who choked on his drink at this, was bent over coughing with Ten Ten patted his back. This got another round of laughs, and the friends enjoyed the rest of the night.

_**99999999999999999**_

"NARUTO UZIMAKI! Get out here RIGHT NOW before I come in and get you!" A busty blond shouted outside of the Hokages door, the guards to the room cringing at the very real threats implied in her words.

"But I REALLY don't want to Grandma Tsunade! It's so boring!" Naruto whined from the other side of the door.

Finally getting fed up, Tsunade punched the door in with a chakra laden fist and entered the room. Narrowing her eyes at him she spoke in an icy voice. "Get. Out. Now."

He quickly scrambled to put his Hokage robs and hat on, then darted through the doorway, as far away as he could be from Tsunade the whole time.

Adjusting her signature pigtails, she caught up to the terrified Naruto as he was exiting the building. Naruto, sensing that the life threatening danger had passed for the moment, relaxed and continued to walk beside his predecessor.

"Naruto, I hated doing this to, but it is part of the duty of the Hokage you know." She spoke to him, still looking ahead of her.

Nodding and smiling at the citizens of the village who bowed as they passed, he responded to her in a defeated voice. "But it's just so boring though!" He looked over to her, pleading with his eyes. "Why do I have to do this every month? Can't you do it alone? We don't really even DO anything!" A whine was starting to creep into his voice, and he quickly stopped talking as to hopefully hide that fact from her, because if he hadn't she'd probably use her fist to get him there. Multiple times.

Rubbing her temples at the growing headache that was commonly associated with prolonged exposure to him she spoke wearily. "Naruto. No one likes wall patrol examination day. Not us, the ones guarding the wall, or the traffic halted in certain sections because of it. It's just one big misery fest. BUT, it keeps our village safer than it would be without it, so we have to do it. OK?"

"I know! But it's just so boring!"

Stopping dead in her tracks, Tsunade was quiet. Blue chakra started to from around her right hand, which was turning into a fist.

"How many times have I told you." She began in a dark voice.

Naruto, who could have sworn that the air around them dropped a couple of degrees, braced himself for what he knew was coming.

"Not to WHINE!" With that, Tsunade drew back her brightly glowing fist, flung it forward towards Naruto, made contact, and sent him flying over the village.

She straitened up once more, dusted herself off, and continued her walk towards the villages mighty gate, ignoring the petrified stares of those around her.

_**99999999999999999**_

Sighing, Naruto leaned against the guard tower wall looking down at the bustling road just below him. This was only their fifteenth tower of… to many.

He was so BORED! Glancing over at Tsunade talking with the ninja assigned to the post this month, relaying to her that nothing unusual had happened that month, he absentmindedly picked at a yellowish rock, only to get painful amount of gravel under his fingernails.

You'd think that with such huge gates and the steady trade that moved in and out of them, the Village Hidden in the Leaves wouldn't stay 'hidden'…

Naruto sighed once more, giving up on his musings. He was way to hungry for this kind of thing. Closing his eyes, he imagined he was in Ichigaku with his friends, consuming bowl after bowl of hot steamy rameny goodness…

Ok, not helping. This was just making him more hungry…

"Naruto?" Hearing his name, Naruto opened his eyes and focused on Tsunade.

"Mm?" Very intelligent. He was starting to sound like a certain Uchiha. Ugh. That's a scary thought.

"Time to go to the next tower." With an approving nod and farewell to the ninja, she turned and started over the wall towards the next guard tower.

After doing the same, Naruto ran to catch up to her.

Coming up with an idea, Naruto decided to see just how far he could get with it. "So Tsunade, are you out of sake yet?"

Tsunade, of course, did not even look at him as she easily saw through his not so thought out plan. "Naruto you are not going anywhere. You're staying with me and getting through this god-forsaken regulation if it kills you."

Sighing and all together giving up on his last shred of hope to escape, he sullenly trudged on behind Tsunade, feeling entirely like an unwilling puppy being led on a leash by its owner to the vets office.

When they did finally reach the guard tower, Naruto once again took up his position leaning against a wall staring at everything and nothing.

The wall, the ram-rod strait apparently newly appointed jonin being interrogated by his Tsunade, the travelers below…

Now Naruto understood a little bit about Shikimaru's obvious obsession with clouds. At least they move, even if it's patrol examination day. And their quiet, unlike the noisy people below him, angry at being denied entrance for a short time while this part of the great and vastly over-sized wall surrounding the prosperous city in which they wished to enter…

He had to spend more time away from Neji, he was beginning to actually remember part of his endless speeches.

Jerking his mind away from the mildly-disturbing thoughts, he once again turned to observe those fuming below him. A man trying to sell watches that didn't work, children running around playing (much to the dismay of their parents), a woman in bright colors dancing to music played by a fiddler, a woman screaming for help, a…

A what? Naruto did a double take to make sure he wasn't hallucinating from being outside in the heat in his stifling Hokage robes for to long. He reached over to Tsunade and tugged on her sleeve like a child vying for attention. (Even if he did have the same goal.)

Letting out an annoyed sigh of slowly deteriorating patience, Tsunade rubbed her temples and turned to Naruto; dreading whatever idiotic escape plan that he had come with this time. "Yes Naruto?"

"Some lady is screaming for help over there!" Naruto said, sounded for all the world like a child finding a bunny.

"A what?" Her eyes panned over to land on the mentioned woman as she verified that it was indeed true. With a flick of her wrist Tsunade summoned a couple of ninja to her, quickly instructed them to go check it out, then turned back to her task.

Naruto plastered himself to the side of the wall in a useless effort to get closer to the action. He watched as the ninja jumped down to the woman and talked to her. He was to far away to hear, and would get pounded into the ground five feet under years before he should by a certain crazy old woman standing not five feet from him if he tried to leave and get closer.

Apparently the situation was dire enough to request admission to the city, because while one of the two ninja stayed and attempted to calm the clearly panicked woman, the remaining one jumped back up the wall with chakra charged feet and halted to a stop before Tsunade and kneeled.

"Lady Tsunade, apparently there is a child wounded and another that has lost consciousness. A woman who found them in this state while waiting for admission into the city became distressed and called for help, requesting that we let the children in a administer them medical aid. Shall I allow them to enter?"

Narrowing her eyes in brief thought Tsunade asked, "How many are there?"

Once again the information effortlessly rolled of the ninjas tongue. "Three children. Two male one female. Country unknown."

"Okay, why not." Tsunade said dismissively, giving him a nod as she turned back towards her prior occupation.

The ninja rejoined his counterpart and picked up what appeared to be a small child in his arms, the other ninja doing the same, only his burden appearing slightly larger. After a brief word to the woman, they sped off over the wall and in the general direction to the hospital, a much smaller person following them, the third child Naruto assumed, and somehow managing to match the ninjas pace.

Glancing over at Tsunade once more, Naruto opened his mouth to speak. "Her Tsunade, do you think they'll need any help with the kid? I mean they might be rapid or something like that."

" I SAID NO!"

On the other side of the village in a different guard tower, the assigned personnel heard a thud and then felt the earth tremor beneath them. The younger guard looked at his older, more experience partner questioningly. "Earthquake?"

The other just chuckled and shook his head at the young man, "Nope, Hokages."

_**99999999999999999**_

Walk, Walk, Walk, Turn, Walk, Walk, Turn, Open Door, Walk, Close Door, Walk, Walk, Walk, flop.

Naruto, after walking home, really just wanted to go to sleep in his comfy bed for a little. Just a little nap. Or maybe a few hours, whichever came first. Eventually he dozed off and slipped into the realm of dreams…

_He came to consciousness with his eyes still closed with the sensation of rocking. Was he still on that retched boat in the Land of Water? Good god. He wanted to go back to his dream. There he had made it home and crawled into bed with the love of his life, got a kiss home despite it being three thirty in the morning, and fell asleep with his face buried in her hair… now he wanted to go home even more._

_As his mind slowly started to work again, he realized that it wasn't the nauseating rocking of waves, instead the hands of the before mentioned loved one shaking him in an apparent effort to rouse him from his slumber. _

_Grinning to himself Naruto flopped over onto his back, eyes still closed pretending to be asleep. _

_Since he was informed prior to this event that he snored when he slept on his back, he attempted to imitate what he hoped it might sound like; wincing inwardly when it came out sounding more like he was strangling a cat. _

_Giggling, she moved on top of him until she was straddling his waist, then leaned down until the kissed the tip of his nose. "Come on hun! Time to get up!" She continued to work her way around his face. Kissing everything from his chin to his eyelids to his ears. Maddeningly, everywhere on his face but his lips. _

_She giggled once more, apparently noticing his frustration. She moved in closer this time, barley a hairs breath from his own lips. "Your not getting anything if you don't wake up mister!"_

_Giving up, he decided to get the upper hand. Keeping his eyes closed, he pulled her towards him with one hand and pushed down on the bed next to him with the other, coming to hover over her. Opening his eyes now, he looked down at the one woman who would ever hold his heart. He bent down a whispered in her ear, close enough to feel her shudder, "I'm awake now, so where's my reward?"_

_Not waiting for her to answer he crashed his lips down onto hers, sealing them with his own, nipping her lip so that she opened her mouth to him. He moved down her neck, licking, sucking, and nibbling at the delicate skin; dragging his tongue over her rapidly beating pulse. He was getting more and more excited with each groan she emitted, reaching down to play with the edge of the t-shirt she was wearing that was to big for her. He whispered into her skin, just loud enough for hear to hear, "I love you, Sakura" and--_

Thud.

"You know you didn't have to hit him _so_ hard. You could have just shook him."

"Yes, I could have. But where's the fun in that?"

"True."

Dragging his now pancake resembling face up to see the people who had invaded his home while he had been enjoying one of his rarely happy dreams, he glared at them all angrily.

Standing above his twitching form were Sai, Kiba, Shino, Choji, and Lee. "What. Do. You. Want?" Naruto watched them all visibly flinch at the scarcely hidden malice in his words.

"What, you really forgot that we were all going out tonight Dickless?" Sai, who seemed all to happy to use the familiar nick name, said with a (barely) teasing tone.

Standing up and brushing off the permanent layer of dust that coated his floor, Naruto grudgingly grumbled that he had forgotten.

"Oh whatever, you forgetting every little thing isn't anything new, can we just get going?" Kiba, who was pulling a Shikimaru face, turned and started to walk past his friends towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah, just wait for me!"

_**99999999999999999**_

After ordering themselves all a drink, preferably with alcohol in it, the group of friends sat at the bar and talked about everything from their new kunais that they just bought, to what type of chips were in Chojis bag.

"So where's the other guys? Wasn't this supposed to be a guy night?" Thinking back through his now clear mind, Naruto remembered with surprising clarity that both the rookie nine and Gai's team had set this up, with all the guys coming, but no women.

Shino, with his clipped speech as usual, answered him first. "They were forced to go with their girlfriends."

"Ouch. What did those she-devils do this time to suck them into their little conniving claws this time?"

As Shino was now preoccupied with a chugging contest with Lee (god only knows how Lee got him to agree to it) Choji answered him this time around a mouthful of chips. "They probably bribed them somehow. The girls got them to go on a triple date with them to plan the baby shower."

"Ew." Glancing over at Sai, Naruto saw him visibly pale into an even more pasty white than his usual. "Just hope they don't come back talking about their enlightening frilly and pink experiences with their crazy girlfriends."

After Shikimaru and Inos wedding, a wildfire seemed to spread through Narutos group of friends. About a week or two after the wedding, Hinata and Sasuke had announced their apparently long-time relationship. Soon after, Neji and Ten Ten had also pulled the rabbit out of the bag on their relationship as well. They had also been together for quite a while as well. While both were unexpected, both couples were celebrated with their friends. And after the love fest thing, Shikimaru got Ino pregnant, which was about four or five months ago. Shikimaru had been going through hell since then.

Looking up and down his friends completely black ninja clothing that hadn't changed much (or at all) since he had known him, Naruto chuckled quietly at his friends obvious disgust for the bright and extremely girlish color.

Naruto, however, did share in his friends dislike for the color. Instead, that was one of the main topics that cycled through his mind daily. Pink hair, green eyes, red and white outfit… tracing his finger along the rim of his glass, Naruto narrowed his eyes. There was no way that he was gonna let that little comment by an already moderately buzzed Sai get him down! He was gonna have a good time! To strengthen his resolve, Naruto chugged the rest of his drink, ordered another, stronger drink, then turned to once more engage in the conversation.

_**99999999999999999**_

Slamming his glass down on the bar with enough force to break a full grown mans arm, Lee called with a raised voice to the bartender to send them all down another round. The cheery bartender who seemed to have infinite patience, called back an affirmative and in no time at all, another drink slid down the bar towards Lee.

As Naruto laughed loudly at a joke Kiba had told him, he looked past Kiba to Lee who, being just as drunk as any of them, missed the cup that was shoved down the bar towards him, somehow managing to catch it before it crashed to the ground. Which would have been the seventh time that he had missed the cup and needed a re-fill… strange that the cup had neither broken or chipped after all of those falls… maybe the bartender ,for obvious reasons, gave special cups to ninjas?

Already having figured out years ago in his depression that when he got drunk, he had a substantially shorter attention span then he usually did (which was feeble to begin with) Narutos attention was almost immediately preoccupied elsewhere. Elsewhere being Shino getting up on the stage and singing a karaoke version of "Hips Don't Lie". Apparently, Shino got A LOT bolder when he became intoxicated.

Then once again Narutos drunken focus was redirected when Kiba clapped his hand on his shoulder. "So, you enjoying your night buddy?"

Putting a hand on Kibas shoulder to steady his tilting friend, Naruto flashed him and his other friends who had come over by this time, including Shino who had finished his song, a wide, toothy smile. "Yup! The best time I've had in a long time!"

With that they all toasted their drinks, which had steadily been getting stronger and stronger, almost falling over from the alcohol already in their systems.

Choji, nudging Shino, nodded with his head towards a group of girls that had come in about an hour ago. "Looks like they're checking us out buddy! You wanna go? Maybe we can hook up and have some fun!"

Naruto, who had been busy chatting with the good-natured bartender, hadn't noticed until he was yanked away by his friends, that they planned to pick up the girls sitting across the bar from them that had been staring at them for a while. Of course Naruto had noticed them, how else could he be the Hokage? Of course, he really hadn't taken any interest in any of them, at all.

But when he was forcibly dragged towards them, then plunked down near one of the girls, he decided, how bad could it be?

Deciding to at least be pleasant to the girl, he turned to get a look at her.

She was dressed in clothing that's purpose was obviously to attract attention from the opposite sex. A tight black leather skirt and an even tighter dark red tank top that exposed her mid drift with glittering letters on it that read 'Little Angel'. Her head sported a mop of lemon yellow hair that had obviously been died and highlighted and straitened too many times, and her face was layered with make up, making her look alien and artificial.

After evaluating him for herself, she apparently was satisfied with what she saw, because she immediately started up a conversation. "So, what's your name honey?"

Naruto barley hid his grimace at the woman's smoke and alcohol smelling breath; definitely not a good combination.

"Naruto."

"Well Naruto," she shifted closer, almost on top of him "You're in luck, I'm drunk and looking for someone, you up for it?" She leaned over a bit to give him a view of her cleavage, probably hoping that it would make him want to sleep with her.

It didn't work.

Raising an eyebrow in slight surprise that any self-respecting woman would freely give herself away like this to a man she didn't know, was completely beyond any of his past experiences.

Apparently taking his expression as both an affirmation and an invitation, she shifted her weight fully onto his lap, pressing her hands against his chest.

Naruto noticed then something that he hadn't about the girl before.

She had green eyes.

_Sakura…_

She leaned in and pressed her filthy mouth to his. Narutos first instinct was to reel back and spit out the putrid taste of her mouth, but slowly relaxed as he looked at her eyes, so like the one he had lost, so like Sakuras.

At this thought Naruto relaxed fully into the kiss, pulling her flush against him.

Feeling his advance, the girl pushed her tongue into his mouth and began to explore. Their tongues fought for dominance, while he tried to ignore he awful taste.

She ground her pelvis into his hips, eliciting a moan from both of them. Pushing his hands up the girls shirt, he cupped one of her breast and began to kneed it as the other threaded through her hair.

Moaning again at his ministrations, she ran her hands over his chest. "Naruto."

Naruto froze.

He opened his eyes and looked at the girl in his arms. Brown hair. Dim eyes.

Not Sakura.

Pushing her off of him, he stood up and began to walk towards the door, trying not to trip on the objects that seemed to move into his path on their own.

Kiba caught up to him before he could reach the door though, probably due to the many falls he has already experienced, and started to question him. "Dude! Why did you do that! She was totally coming on to you!"

Trying to move around him, Naruto once again headed towards the door, but was intercepted once again by the (slightly) less drunk Kiba. "Come on! This is finally the opportunity to get over Sakura! And you just leave the girl on the floor!"

Finally having had enough, Naruto snapped, "Have you ever lost someone you love like that Kiba?" Apparently realizing what he had just said to his blond haired friend in his drunken stupidity, Kiba took a visible step back from the furious Naruto.

Sensing that his friend was backing off, Naruto continued to advance in a steadily rising voice. "Have you! How do you think it feels to have your future ripped away from you because of some mission? HUH? To lose the one you love more then your own life! HOW DO YOU THINK THAT FEELS?" He was shaking now, glaring menacingly at his long-time friend.

Kiba, who had come to his senses, tried to apologize, already knowing just how badly he had hurt the other man. "Na- Naruto…I- I'm-" Bowing his head in shame at his own lack of sensitivity to his friends despair, he tried once again in a small voice. "I'm sorry Naruto."

Laughing like a man that had been broken, Naruto looked at his friend. "You know, that's all I ever hear these days. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" His voice rising with each phrase, Naruto kicked over a nearby table. "No one understands. No one ever says I understand how you feel, because you don't! It's just 'I'm sorry'. I don't want your pity, or your apologies.!" He took a deep breath. "I want my wife back." He ended his tirade in a whisper that seemed to echo off the walls of the bar.

Naruto turned and walked out the door.

The following click sounded like thunder in the silent bar. Some still in shock by what they had just seen, a grown man break down in public. Others, mostly older, more experienced ninja, looking down or at each other; them being able to understand some of what it must have been like for him; them having gone through something similar in their life times.

Kiba just stared at where Naruto had exited.

_**99999999999999999**_

The door to his apartment clicked open.

Naruto didn't even bother to turn on the lights.

He trudged past the many pictures covered with black cloth lining the walls.

Walked into his bedroom and sat on his bed.

He reached for a barley visible silver chain under his shirt, pulling it out.

On it was a plain golden band. He strained his eyes in the dark to view what he knew was inscribed in the ring.

On the outside of the ring in a silver circle, was a miniature cherry blossom.


	3. Chapter 3

_Naruto stared intently at the two plump, round, red fruits (or were they vegetables?) he held in each hand. He shook one, poked the other, and tossed the other. _

_The obviously bored and slightly annoyed salesman spoke, after what he thought was too long of a time just deciding which tomato to choose. "Um, Sir? May I point out that there's pretty much no difference between them…" Naruto looked up at him, but didn't appear to see him. The man, unnerved by the blank stare, stammered quickly, "Um, uh, if you can't decide, you could just buy both of them?"_

_Naruto put the two orbs into his bag, robotically gave the salesman the due amount, then turned and walked away._

_As he turned the corner, Naruto continued walking, watching curiously as the ground seemed to rise up to meet him… oh. _

_Not bothering to get up, Naruto merely rolled and continued to do so until he was out of the way of traffic in the busy market. Stifling a yawn against the pavement, he closed his eyes and dozed, he hadn't gotten any sleep last night…_

"_Do you have to go Sakura?" He asked as he entered the room, moving over towards his beloved and winding his arms around her slim waist._

_Managing to wriggle out of his hold and prance away from him towards their dresser to fish out some other necessity for her up-coming journey. "You know I do Naruto! I've already accepted the mission, and I'm the only medical ninja on the team, they need me to go!" Standing on the other side of the bed this time while she loaded her pack._

"_But why do you specifically need to go? I mean, it's just guarding some lady right? Can't they find some other doctor to go?" _

_Running her fingers through her shoulder length hair, she zipped up her pack and slung it over her shoulder, "Naruto, this isn't just some lady! This is the heir to the Land of Earths throne! If we get her successfully to the treaty signing, they will be an irreplaceable ally!" _

"…_So?"_

_Sighing, she went over to him and let him wrap his arms around her, dropping her light burden to the floor, "Naruto, this could be very good for both of our countries, but if we don't succeed and something happens along the way, we could be threatened with war. Please understand that Naruto."_

_Burying his head in her hair and resting his cheek against her neck, Naruto mumbled, "But they have another princess, so why is this one so important?"_

_Pinching his nose Sakura replied, "Because she is the oldest! The other princess is only eight years old right now, not exactly a suitable age to run a country, wouldn't you say?" Kissing him on the nose she continued, "Plus, I'll only be gone a month or two, ok?" _

_Sighing in defeat, Naruto pulled her into one last kiss goodbye, "Sure, sure, just come back safe ok? Love ya." _

"_I promise I'll come back in one piece. Love you to hun, bye!" Flashing him the smile that he had fallen in love with, she disappeared in a cloud of cherry blossoms. _

_Catching one, he fell back onto the bed with it held to his heart._

"_Lord Hokage? Please wake up Sir, Hokage Uzumaki?"_

_Sighing as he cracked an eye open to glimpse at the ninja sent to fetch him for some reason that he didn't care about, he mumbled out something that could have been a question if he had bothered to attach words to them. _

_Apparently not fazed at the appearance of his villages leader, the man proceeded to explain why he was disturbing his rest on the warm and extremely uncomfortable pavement. "Sir, Lady Tsunade has requested your presence at the hospital, please go there immediately. She said that it was urgent."_

_Sitting up and rubbing the sand and dirt out of his hair, he responded while picking up the soggy remains of what once were tomatoes, aware of the obvious boredom in his voice. "Can you please tell her that I will comply to her request, but I have an issue to attend to first."_

_The ninja, clearly irritated at his lack of response to someone as powerful as Lady Tsunade, narrowed his eyes at his Hokage._

_Naruto picked up the sodden bag and made his way over to the nearest trash can to dispose of it. "Relay that to her please that I shall get there in an hour or two."_

_Moving around the trash can to go back into the confusing chaos of the market, he continued walking until he heard the ninjas voice behind him._

"_She said that it had something to do with 'Konohas Cherry Blossom.'"_

_Naruto stopped in mid-step and turned to look at him, afraid that he had misheard. "Cherry Blossom? Are you sure she said that?"_

_The man, pulling the ANBU mask that Naruto hadn't noticed before back over his face, replied, his voice slightly muffled by the plaster. "Yes, Sir. I am completely sure."_

_Eyes wide with what seemed to be hope and fear at the same time, the man watched as he disappeared, leaving the dust to settle where he had once been standing._

_**99999999999999999**_

_Naruto threw open the doors to the hospital and was greeted by the usual sites._

_Stark white walls lined with doors, a tiled floor that was the same color as the walls, people waiting in the uncomfortable looking plastic hospital chairs, large reception desk (also white), and doctors and nurses rushing around._

_Naruto silently took all this in while he walked to the desk, struggling not to yank someone aside and demand that they tell him where Tsunade was._

_Reaching the desk, he looked down at the bored woman, coughing to get her attention._

_Jerking up and clicking closed a game on the computer, she warily cast her gaze up until it settled on him. Looking overly relieved at not being caught slacking off on the job, she spoke in a high, nasal voice. "Do you need something sugar?"_

"_I was told to come here by Lady Tsunade." Anxiously, he shifted from foot to foot as she shifted through the mess on her desk, apparently looking for something that he hoped would help his situation._

_Grabbing a paper with an 'aha!' she passed it over the counter the him, "This is the room number, have a nice day."_

_Slightly annoyed at the blatant dismissal but having a much more urgent priority, he quickly found the room number disclosed on the sheet, room 381. Taking a deep breath and steeling himself for whatever might be on the other side, he opened the door and stepped inside._

_**99999999999999999**_

_3 beds. 9 ANBU. 1 ex-Hokage. 13 faces turned towards him when he opened the door. _

_After an awkward moment of being stared at by the rooms occupants, Naruto shuffled over to Tsunades side, where she was standing before a bedside with three young children sitting on the rumpled covers. _

"_Glad you could finally make it Naruto." Apparently she wasn't pleased by the delay in him arriving._

"_Yeah, sorry I'm late. I was… busy. So I was told there was a situation pertaining to… her?" He left the sentence hanging in the curiously tense air._

_Raising one perfectly sculpted eyebrow slightly at his pitiful excuse, Tsunade brushed it off and got right to the point. _

_Putting her previously crossed arms on her hips she turned back to the children in front of her. She stared at them for a moment then heaved a deep sigh. Angling her head towards the three motionless children, she spoke to him in a slightly subdued voice. "Naruto, take a good look at them for me, ok?"_

_Confused, Narutos eyes panned over and rested on the small forms huddled close together on the uncomfortable cot._

_On the left, the young boy had his long blond hair tied in a ponytail falling over his shoulder reaching almost halfway down his chest. A dark red headband was tied at the back of his head; his bangs falling into his tightly shut eyes. He wore a thick silver half circle earring in his left ear. _

_Moving on, his eyes then rested on the slightly younger looking girl to the right of the boy. Her midnight black hair fell about an inch short of her shoulders. Her shockingly bright blue eyes staring down at her lap where her shaking hand was clenched tightly with the blond boys. Her other hand, which was shaking even more violently, tightly held the pendant of the necklace she was wearing. She was biting her lip, obviously nervous about the situation._

_Turning his head he appraised the boy farthest to the right. He wore a black bandana tied around his head, completely concealing his hair. Light blue eyes, although not as light as the girls, looking up and away. Like the other boy, he sported an identical thick silver half circle on his left ear._

_Unlike the blond boy and the dark haired girl, who were clinging to each other as if keeping each other alive, this child was not touching the other two at all; arms crossed with both his body and head angled away from any and all others in the room with him as if they didn't exist. His eyebrows were pushed down low over his eyes and his mouth was set in a deep frown. His total expression clearly portrayed the message to Naruto that this kid would gladly be anywhere, as long as it wasn't here. _

_Dismissing the boys stormy expression, he turned back to Tsunade. "Am I supposed to be seeing something here?"_

_Still looking at the ground in front of her as if it was sake, Tsunades lips pressed into a tight line. She looked up at the current Hokage in front her with such an intensity that Naruto warily took half a step back. She continued to stare at him for a moment, until her face softened, looking as if she had come to a hard decision. Turning once more towards the children, she focused her attention on the boy with the black bandana._

"_Masaru, would you please remove your headband?" _

_If Naruto was surprised at how polite the woman was to Masaru, which he supposed was the young boys name, he was even more surprised with the boys answer which held no kindness in it at all._

"_Why should I old lady? I only did that to convince you, you old bat! Why should I do it again!" _

_Cautiously glancing over towards to Tsunade, Naruto prepared for the onslaught, but nothing came. If anything, her eyes had gotten even softer somehow. _

_Why wasn't she putting this little kid in his place? He watched, shocked, as the ex-Hokage kneeled down in front of the boy and took his hands into her own._

"_Masaru, this is very important. This man was very important to your mother; he deserves to know."_

_Masaru stared at her for a few more moments, then let out a sigh. Slowly, he reached up a untied his headband. Naruto watched curiously from his spot in the room, wondering what was so important about a kids head._

_When Masaru finished removing the cloth, he stared down at his knees, embarrassed. _

_There had only been one other person in the whole world that he knew of that had the same color hair._

_Not caring that his mouth was wide open, Naruto openly stared at the boy. His hair- his hair was-_

_Pink. _

_Naruto felt the strange feeling of falling, then realized to late that his legs had given out beneath him; and without them supporting him, landed on the tile with a dull thump._

_Seeing that Naruto had apparently stopped all brain function, Tsunade took this time to speak and try to explain the situation. _

"_Naruto," hearing his name, Narutos head jerked up a met eyes with Tsunade. "These children were the ones found outside the wall requesting entrance yesterday, they say that they traveled here from the mist country. We've questioned them, but they just said that their mother told them to come to this village and ask for Naruto Uzumaki."_

"_Why?" His voice came out in a whisper, eyes filled with emotions. _

_Cringing at the mixture of emotions in his dull blue eyes, Tsunade took a breath and opened her mouth to say the words that would either make or break the young Hokage in front of her. _

"_Naruto, this is Masaru, Toshiyuki, and Akira. They are Sakuras children."_

_**99999999999999999**_

_Naruto glanced over one more to the children on his right. They were staring around in awe, probably trying to take everything in, he thought. From the story of their journey in the hospital room, it sounded as if they had never been in such a big and populated town as Konoha. _

_They had avoided all of the big towns in their stretch to get here, sleeping for only a night or two in small, run down hotels in who-knows-what kinds of towns._

_Like in the hospital room, the girl, Akira, was in between the pink haired Masaru and golden haired Toshiyuki, each holding one of her small hands. Both Akira and Toshiyuki were wiping their heads around so fast that they would probably get whiplash, but Masaru was continuously scanning the large crowds around them, full of both civilians and ninja, as if he expected someone to suddenly spring out and attack them. _

_Watching as they viewed their new surroundings, Naruto turned his mind to the ever present questions, were they really Sakuras children? If so, who was the father? When did Sakura meet him? When had she given birth to them? Was she still alive, like the kids had said? _

_He turned down a street that would lead them to his district, and after checking to make sure that they had all turned with him, went back to his thoughts._

_The boys looked around five years old, give or take some change, so they would have hade to been born around the first year that Sakura was gone. So did she give birth before the village knew that she had disappeared?_

_Were they his?_

_Naruto was really beginning to think that they were. Masaru had Sakuras pink hair and eyes that were almost the identical shade of blue to his; while Toshiyuki had blond hair and piercing green eyes, so very much like Sakuras._

_But, if they were his, then what about Akira? _

_The girl had ink black hair, with practically neon blue eyes. Although Naruto had never paid attention in art class, he was pretty sure that pink and yellow didn't make black, especially not that shade. She was also younger then the two boys, maybe around four. Could Sakura have fallen in love with someone else and had a child and Akira just inherited the fathers looks? _

"_Um…Mister?" _

_At the sound of Toshiyuki's voice Naruto turned back to them with a questioning look; wondering why they had stopped walking. "Yeah?"_

_Masaru returned his inquiry with a stony faced answer. "Is this your house?"_

_Glancing around, Naruto realized that he had in fact gone right past his apartment while he was lost in thought. Sheepish, he shuffled towards them. "Sorry about that, I was… thinking." He chuckled awkwardly. _

_Ignoring Masaru's raised eyebrow, Naruto hastily ascended the steps to the door, grabbing the key out from under the Periwinkle flower pot on the small porch. Unlocking the door, he stepped aside to let the kids in. _

_Masaru was the first one to move, taking the step into the building, clinical eyes analyzing every little detail. _

_Closing the door after himself as he followed Toshiyuki, Akira still hot-glued to his arm, Naruto watched silently as the children made their observations. _

"_So what do you think?"_

_Masaru, walking over to a table and wiping the pad of his index finger across it, answered as his eyes narrowed at the disturbing amount of dust that was on his hand from the brief gesture. "Have you ever heard of dusting? It's a common practice in civilized areas you know."_

_Rolling his eyes, Naruto proceeded to his kitchen while they followed him, eyes still flashing from one thing to another._

_Toshiyuki hopped up onto one of the ancient stools at the peninsula, on the opposite side from the kitchen, Akira naturally coming along with him. _

_Masaru, still assessing, opened the empty fridge. "Do you have anything to eat in this house? At all?"_

"_Of course I do!" Naruto protested, opening a cupboard revealing tower after tower of, big surprise, ramen. _

_Eyes widening, Toshiyuki turned to Naruto. "Can we have some? Please? We almost never get to have ramen!"_

_Surprised at his pleading tone, Naruto stuttered an affirmative, making enough for four people while the children played with the salt and pepper shakers. _

_When he was done, he placed the ramen filled bowls in front of them, stealing the shakers and warning them to let it cool first just as Toshiyuki squeaked from burning his tongue on the too hot noodles, Akira giggling as he flailed for a minute, trying to get to the sink._

_Once the food had cooled enough to be eaten without burning your taste buds off, Naruto ate silently, watching as the three in front of him consumed their food, questions overflowing in his mind, begging to be let out. _

_Ignoring the more important questions, he went for the most trivial one he could find._

"_So, you guys like ramen huh?"_

_Pausing and looking up from their ravenous devouring of their food, Toshiyuki and Akira flashed him a bright smile before going back to their food, leaving Masaru to answer him. "Even before we began the trip here, our whole lives we've had to avoid any big towns, and a lot of the smaller run down places that we stayed at for any length of time didn't exactly have somewhere you could just go and but packaged goods. Most of the time breakfast, lunch, and dinner were whatever was nearby that sellers could get their hands on."_

_Curious, Naruto asked another, more important question. "Why did you have to avoid major towns? Was there someone after you?"_

_The almost childlike look on Masaru's face when he had been talking about the ramen disappeared from his face, hardening into a expression that Naruto often saw on older, more experienced ninja; one that should never be on a child his age._

_The other two who hadn't previously been engaged in anything but emptying their bowls, exchanged glances with each other, then turning to Masaru, each traded glances with one another, seeming to convey something to painful for words to describe in their sullen looks. _

_Masaru smiled gently at the two, then all three turned back to their food, as did Naruto; nobody spoke for the remainder of the meal._

_**99999999999999999**_

"_So you really don't have anything else?" _

_Looking over at the threesome exiting out of his bedroom, he found himself smiling slightly at what he saw._

_Naruto had given them full access to his clothing, since they came to the village with nothing but the clothes on their backs, they had nothing to dress in._

_Toshiyuki had donned a bright orange shirt and a matching pair of boxers, both to large for him, and Masaru had chosen a pair of silk pajamas that Naruto never wore. Then Akira came shuffling out of the doorway, dwarfed by a dark red shirt. Sakuras shirt was so large on her that it dragged on the ground as the young girl walked. _

"_Wh-where did you find that shirt Akira?"_

_Looking up with a shy expression she answered in a small voice. "I found in in the back of the closet, on the only green hanger on the left side."_

_Surprise at hearing her talk for the first time and her attention to detail, he muttered an 'ok' then got up and walked over towards the TV._

"_So is there anything you want to watch? I've got some movies." Stepping aside, he sat down next to the DVD player, waiting for them to agree on one movie._

_At a tug on his sleeve, he looked at the children's selections. _

_Masaru chose 'The Hills Have Eyes.'_

_Toshiyuki was holding 'Wedding Crashers.'_

_And Akira clutched 'The Princess Bride.'_

_Each of them looked at him expectantly._

"_Um… Toshiyuki, I think 'The Hills Have Eyes' is a little to scary for Akira." Akira nodded her head violently. "But Akira, 'The Princess Bride' is a little… girly for your brothers. "This time it was the twins turn to nod their heads. "So I guess we're watching 'The Wedding Crashes', huh?_

_Dejectedly, Masaru and Akira return their movies to the now un-orderly pile, then snuggled up on the couch together with Toshiyuki. _

_Naruto pressed play then came to sit on the couch as well, throwing a blanket over all four of them and settling in._

_**99999999999999999**_

_Naruto clicked off the TV as the credits rolled, looking over at the slumbering three who had passed out sometime in the middle of the movie. _

_Gently picking them up one after another, he placed the two boys on the guest room bed._

_Heading back out to the living room, he picked Akira up, then almost dropped her when her sleepy eyes were open looking at him._

_Giving her a comforting smile, her explained in a hushed whisper. "I'm just moving you to bed, ok?"_

_She nodded, not speaking._

_Gently lowering her onto the soft sheets next to her brothers and pulling up the covers, he headed towards the door, then reconsidered and kneeling by the bedside._

"_Hey, Akira?" _

_Turning to face him, she looked at him with a questioning gaze._

"_How did you guys know which apartment was mine? I don't have any type of sign in the front or anything like that."_

_She smiled at him, eyelids closing. Naruto had to lean in close to hear her last whispered words before she drifted off to the realm of sleep._

"_Periwinkle is mommy's favorite flower."_


End file.
